Virgin Money and Clydesdale Bank have brought in a policy change to better cater for contractors impacted by IR35 changes which were brought in this April.
The tax changes were made to ensure contactors paid the correct tax if the work they did for a firm was equal to employment.
Virgin Money and Clydesdale will lend to contractors who fall inside of IR35 rules, where they are paid via an umbrella company or payroll service company.
If a contractor is paid by an umbrella company they must show the last two months of payslips, which takes into account gross pay after the deduction of statutory employer costs and payroll service costs.
The lenders said “complex contractor situations” would be assessed manually by an underwriter and considered on a “case by case basis”.
Virgin Money’s head of customer acquisition, Sarah Green, said: “As a bank we understand that contractors need mortgage products that are flexible enough to accommodate their professional and financial situations and that is why, following the IR35 changes we have made these positive amendments to our lending policy.”
Virgin Money and Clydesdale Bank are the latest lenders to make changes to its contractor offering, with Halifax adjusting its affordability and income criteria for contractors in June.
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.
